The 1999 Constitution of Nigeria prohibits discrimination on the grounds of gender, but customary and religious laws continue to restrict women’s rights. As Nigeria is a federal republic, each state has the authority to draft its own legislation. The combination of federation and a tripartite system of civil, customary and religious law makes it very difficult to harmonise legislation and remove discriminatory measures. Moreover, certain states in the north follow Islamic Sharia law, which reinforces customs that are unfavourable to women. The government has established a National Committee on the Reform of Discriminatory Laws against Women, which has drafted a decree for the abolition of all forms of discrimination against women. The decree is under discussion in the National Assembly.
Nigerian women in the family are not sufficiently protected: several inequalities remain because of tradition. There are three forms of marriage in the country: monogamous marriage registered under the civil marriage law, customary marriage and Islamic marriage. In southern Nigeria, the minimum legal age for marriage is between 18 and 21 years of age, depending on the region; in the north it ranges from 12 to 15 years. In some regions, customary law allows girls to marry from the age of only nine years; such marriages are banned in two states, but remain common overall. The incidence of early marriage is high in Nigeria: a 2004 United Nations report estimated that 28 per cent of girls between 15 and 19 years of age were married, divorced or widowed.
Polygamy is prohibited in civil marriages, but authorised under customary and Islamic law. The practice is widespread: more than one-third of Nigerian women are in polygamous unions.
In civil marriages, parental authority is shared by the mother and father, but in two-thirds of Nigerian households, husbands alone make decisions about the health and education of their children
Customary law seldom recognises women’s rights to inheritance. In many instances, the family of a deceased husband will claim rights to the couple’s property, leaving the widow destitute. In civil marriage, widows are guaranteed the right to inherit at least 30 per cent of the couple’s property.
Women’s physical integrity is not sufficiently protected in Nigeria. Only one Nigerian state has a law in place to address violence against women, and the country’s Penal Code grants husbands permission to beat their wives, provided the violence does not result in serious injury. Domestic violence is common, particularly in polygamous families, and affects one-fifth of couples. According to a 2003 Demographic and Health Survey, 64.5 per cent of Nigerian women consider it normal to be beaten by their husbands – even for infractions as minor as burning a meal or failing to have dinner ready on time. Rape is punishable by life imprisonment in Nigeria, but there are no sanctions in the Penal Code against spousal rape.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is prohibited in several Nigerian states, but such laws are difficult to enforce. On a national scale, FGM is widely practised: one-fifth of women aged between 15 and 49 years have been subjected to it. The incidence of FGM differs considerably by region, and is twice as common in rural communities as in urban areas. The older a women is, the more likely she is to have been subjected to FGM; this suggests that the practice has less support among the younger generation.
There is evidence to suggest that Nigeria may be a country of concern in relation to missing women.
Nigerian women have very limited ownership rights. Civil law entitles women to have access to land, but certain customary laws stipulate that only men have the right to own land. In practice, women can obtain access to land solely through marriage or family. As a result, women represent a tiny portion of landowners in the country and little is known about how much authority they have to administer their land holdings.
Under civil and Islamic law, married women have the right to have access to property other than land. By contrast, customary law denies them any entitlement to household property or to assets acquired by their husbands. In daily life in Nigeria, men generally make all decisions regarding property.
Women’s access to bank loans is restricted by their limited financial resources and the difficulties they have obtaining the necessary guarantees. In certain cases, financial institutions demand prior consent of the woman’s husband before granting a loan. The National Poverty Eradication Programme and other micro-credit schemes have been established to assist women, but access is still low; statistics show that less than one-third of loans in Nigeria are awarded to women.
Nigerian women face severe limitations in the exercise of their civil liberties. Women’s freedom of movement is restricted in that they are obliged to obtain their husbands’ permission to obtain a passport or to travel outside the country. The practice of purdah, whereby women are secluded from public observation, prevails within the Muslim community in some northern areas. Women in purdah cannot leave their homes without permission from their husbands and must be accompanied by a man at all times when in public. Purdah also restricts women’s freedom of dress in that Muslim women must be veiled in public. Widows in these regions face the greatest degree of discrimination: they are confined to the home and must keep their heads shaven and wear mourning dress.
Afrol News (n.d.), Gender Profile: Nigeria, www.afrol.com/Categories/Women/profiles/nigeria_women.htm.
CEDAW (Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women) (1997), Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties Under Article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women: Nigeria, Combined Second and Third Periodic Reports of States Parties, CEDAW/C/NGA/2-3, CEDAW, New York, NY.
CEDAW (2003), Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties Under Article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women: Nigeria, Combined Fourth and Fifth Periodic Reports of States Parties, CEDAW/C/NGA/3-4, CEDAW, New York, NY.
CEDAW (2006), Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties Under Article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women: Nigeria, Sixth Periodic Report of States Parties, CEDAW/C/NGA/6, CEDAW, New York, NY.
JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) (1999), Country WID profile: Nigeria, JICA Planning Department, Tokyo.
National Population Commission, Federal Republic of Nigeria and ORC Macro (2003), Demographic Health Survey of Nigeria, ORC Macro, Calverton, MD, www.measuredhs.com/pubs/pub_details.cfm?ID=454&srchTp=advanced.
Struensee, V. von (2005), “The Contribution of Polygamy to Women’s Oppression and Impoverishment:An Argument for its Prohibition”, Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law, Murdoch, www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/MurUEJL/2005/2.html#fn100.
UN (United Nations) (2004), World Fertility Report 2003, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, New York, NY.
UN (2006), World Population Prospects, Population Database, UN Population Division, New York, NY.
US Department of State (2007), Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Nigeria, US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Washington, DC.
